Law Enforcement Changes Under Project 2025

We’ve heard lots about Project 2025, the conservative document that underpins Trump’s Agenda 47 and the Republican Party platform. One of the Project’s most radical aspects is centralizing law enforcement and using the military against US citizens.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will assume control over local law enforcement activities when local governance is deemed insufficient by federal standards, which includes intervening in how public protests are managed and policed (Project 2025, Page 553). Imagine a situation where a local sheriff’s department is working with local citizens for a peaceful protest, possibly one with different views than the party in power in Washington. The DOJ could decide the sheriff’s department isn’t exerting enough control, and could take over. This reduces local transparency and accountability for police actions and diminishes the cooperative relationship between local police and their communities. This centralized control threatens free speech and our right to protest, the hallmark of autocracy.

Firearms conceal and carry regulations vary widely by state. In Wisconsin, one must be 18 years old, passed a firearms safety course, and undergone a background check to obtain a conceal and carry permit. Conservative groups that support Project 2025 want all states to adopt the same and the most lenient conceal and carry law, a provision opposed by Major Cities Chiefs Association, Fraternal Order of Police, and International Association of Chiefs of Police. Imagine no permit and no training to carry a concealed gun, when we already have the world’s most gun violence.

Another provision is to bring the currently independent DOJ, directly under the President’s control. That means DOJ would be told who and how to investigate crime, rather than to follow the law and the facts. Additionally, DOJ employees would be required to swear a loyalty pledge to the President, rather than to the Constitution. That means they would be required to do the President’s bidding, even if asked to perform an illegal act. This is how autocracy works, not democracy.

In November, vote to defend democracy. Our rights, our children’s rights, and our grandchildren’s futures depend upon us.

Nancy Kolb